I just think that Rush is more polished right now. I do see Barne's contribuiting, but he needs work before he is ready to be a starter. Mainly on the defensive end. If we weren't worried about losing a couple games in the begning of the year then I would say ok, go ahead and start Barnes, but every game matters this year. I really liked how they brought Klay in slowly last year. Don't put to much presure on them in the beginning and make them work hard and earn their keep.

Just my opinion. Not saying that Rush would be a better fit at SF then Barnes, just that he is more experienced and can contribute more right away then Barnes.

Good post - I'm leaning more towards Rush starting out the season as well..perhaps for even half the season and see where we're at with that. Definitely put Barnes in for a good 11-13 minutes per game and see how he does against other teams' starters, etc.

Good posts, gents, and valid points by both of you.

I suppose my position is simply that Barnes, as a true small forward, a viable offensive option, and a bigger body, would help us win more games than Rush and his superior defense. Likewise, it is just my opinion.

Not that I put much stock into preseason stats, but for what it's worth, Rush is the unquestionably better option thus far. In nearly identical minutes, he's besting Barnes by a nose in nearly all categories and is almost doubling his EFF. He's been a lot more steady, but Barnes has flashed some seriously impressive game in bits over the first two games. We'll see where they land by the end of preseason, but purely from the standpoint that Barnes' prototypical size is of more value than Rush at the 3, I'm hoping the rookie turns it up and gets the starting nod early.

We got lucky with Klay, but lets not forget that Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, Patrick O'Bryant, Ike Diogu, and many other Warrior rookies evaporated their talent base while rotting on the bench. After Don Nelson's selective annointing of who would have a career and who wouldn't (mostly based off of size and shooting stroke), I'm of the mind that our youngsters deserve as much run as they can get to blossom. It seemed to do wonders for Thompson and Udoh.

I just think that Rush is more polished right now. I do see Barne's contribuiting, but he needs work before he is ready to be a starter. Mainly on the defensive end. If we weren't worried about losing a couple games in the begning of the year then I would say ok, go ahead and start Barnes, but every game matters this year. I really liked how they brought Klay in slowly last year. Don't put to much presure on them in the beginning and make them work hard and earn their keep.

Just my opinion. Not saying that Rush would be a better fit at SF then Barnes, just that he is more experienced and can contribute more right away then Barnes.

Good post - I'm leaning more towards Rush starting out the season as well..perhaps for even half the season and see where we're at with that. Definitely put Barnes in for a good 11-13 minutes per game and see how he does against other teams' starters, etc.

Good posts, gents, and valid points by both of you.

I suppose my position is simply that Barnes, as a true small forward, a viable offensive option, and a bigger body, would help us win more games than Rush and his superior defense. Likewise, it is just my opinion.

Not that I put much stock into preseason stats, but for what it's worth, Rush is the unquestionably better option thus far. In nearly identical minutes, he's besting Barnes by a nose in nearly all categories and is almost doubling his EFF. He's been a lot more steady, but Barnes has flashed some seriously impressive game in bits over the first two games. We'll see where they land by the end of preseason, but purely from the standpoint that Barnes' prototypical size is of more value than Rush at the 3, I'm hoping the rookie turns it up and gets the starting nod early.

We got lucky with Klay, but lets not forget that Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, Patrick O'Bryant, Ike Diogu, and many other Warrior rookies evaporated their talent base while rotting on the bench. After Don Nelson's selective annointing of who would have a career and who wouldn't (mostly based off of size and shooting stroke), I'm of the mind that our youngsters deserve as much run as they can get to blossom. It seemed to do wonders for Thompson and Udoh.

I'm definitely not opposed to Barnes showing his near-to-full potential early enough to start early in the season. I'm hoping he wow's everyone and gradually shows he's a better offensive powerhouse than Rush; I agree Rush is a great 6th man..I also think maybe Barnes would be a good 6th man off the bench while Rush temporarily takes the starting spot. Yes, Rush will never be one of those all-star or even top starting 3's in the league..but he's showing a fire that he's never really shown before knowing that it's possible to snag the starting spot for a time. I'm willing to wait out the rest of the preseason and see how it goes. Barnes is by no means looking bad though.

It's hard to go against Brandon Rush, who played well last season. He's also a better defensive player than RJ. I still wanna see Barnes get a lot of time, though, so maybe Rush could slide in behind Klay at the two (after starting at SF) and play mo' minutes.

Honestly I never really cared for who started. It's who ends the game that matters the most. I absolutely love the reasoning behind bringing someone like Ginobli and Jason Terry off the bench. As long as you have a defensive minded player to insert in the starting lineup, it's all good. Think if we were to do this with David Lee. Carl Landry can more than hold his own as a starting forward, but by the time he's tired and it's time to insert Lee in the 2nd half of the 1st quarter, Lee will be playing against bench players and would surely give the team a huge spark. And it's not like we wont play him at the end of games either, because your best players in that particular game should get the nod.

There seems to be some kind of stigma behind coming off the bench. More of an ego or pride thing because people think the best players are the ones who start. In terms of the starting lineup, Mark Jackson said that the players who start aren't necessarily the best players, but the best combination of players. I can get behind something like that. I think if players can put aside their egos and just buy in to the team concept, it could take us a long way. I don't think we're gonna be bringing Lee off the bench, but I'm in favor of changing the lineup for chemistry/strategic reasons.

shalik wrote:It's hard to go against Brandon Rush, who played well last season. He's also a better defensive player than RJ. I still wanna see Barnes get a lot of time, though, so maybe Rush could slide in behind Klay at the two (after starting at SF) and play mo' minutes.

I also think Rush can play some backup SG. It all depends which players are performing better at certain times of the season. Jack likely will get alot of time as SG, as well as PG, throughout the season, but if he has periods where he is not performing well yet Rush is, then Rush will probably play some SG a fair bit more.